A Royal Navy raid on Zeebrugge aimed to block German U-boat access to the English Channel, though blockships were sunk in the wrong position and the canal reopened within days.
Key Facts
- Date
- 23 April 1918
- Blockships scuttled
- 2 of 3 in canal entrance
- Submarine viaduct ram
- 1 of 2 submarines rammed mole viaduct
- Canal reopened
- Germans reopened canal within days at high tide
- Concurrent operation
- Simultaneous attack on Ostend
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
German U-boat flotillas based at Bruges-Zeebrugge and Ostend threatened Allied control of the English Channel and southern North Sea. Multiple bombardment attempts failed to close the Flanders ports, and Operation Hush in 1917 was abortive. Rising ship losses to U-boats made closing these ports urgent, prompting the Admiralty to plan a direct raid.
On 23 April 1918, the Royal Navy launched a raid on Zeebrugge alongside a concurrent attack on Ostend. One submarine rammed the viaduct connecting the shore to the mole to isolate the German garrison, while two of three blockships were scuttled in the narrowest part of the Bruges–Ostend Canal entrance, intended to deny German vessels egress from the port.
The blockships were sunk in the wrong position, and within a few days the Germans had restored submarine access through the canal at high tide, making the operation a tactical failure. Despite this, lessons learned during the raid influenced planning and tactics employed in amphibious and blocking operations during the Second World War.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Side B
1 belligerent